Currently, semiconductor materials, as well as laser crystals and scintillators, are used for a variety of applications, from microelectronics and medical imaging to nonlinear optics and radiation detection. These semiconductor materials are typically prepared in bulk using crystal growth techniques that require the expenditure of significant time and energy, as well as the use of highly pure starting materials. Thin film materials are typically prepared via complex chemical or physical vapor deposition techniques, which again require the expenditure of significant time and energy. Such approaches are industry standard and expensive. Further, for such bulk crystals, post-growth fabrication is often required to create a material appropriately sized for a final assembled device.
Reduction of cost and improvement in quality for preparing these inorganic crystalline materials are the two primary concerns regarding their development and use. The growth of additive manufacturing and 3-D printing technologies creates new opportunities to address these concerns. In traditional metal/metal alloy and plastics manufacturing, significant cost savings have been realized through additive manufacturing and 3-D printing technologies with consistent reliability. Further, the metallographic properties of metal components manufactured using such techniques appear to be comparable to those of traditionally fabricated components. Additive manufacturing and 3-D printing techniques, however, generally have not been applied to control functional properties of metal/metal alloy and plastics beyond shape and metallurgy, and in particular, have not been applied to define and control functional properties (e.g., electrical, photonic, and optical properties) of inorganic crystalline solids, such as semiconductors, scintillators, laser crystals, and optical filters. Applying additive manufacturing techniques to inorganic crystalline materials as described herein can result in material conservation similar to that observed for metal/metal alloy and plastic materials formed through additive manufacturing, and thus result in similar significant manufacturing cost reductions, and can also result in improved quality. Furthermore, additive manufacturing of inorganic crystalline materials can save time and corresponding costs by concurrently accomplishing two or more traditionally sequential steps of purification, synthesis, crystal growth, and fabrication of the desired compound.